


Even Legends Fall

by pendots



Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Dreams, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Nightmares, Self-Doubt, Victuuri Week 2017, Why do I make Victor suffer?, Yuuri is actually not horrible at comforting people sometimes, day three
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-09
Updated: 2017-02-09
Packaged: 2018-09-23 03:30:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,992
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9638999
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pendots/pseuds/pendots
Summary: Victor pasted on his practiced, media-pleasing smile. "It's nothing, Yuuri. Go back to sleep," he urged. Victor shifted into a cross-legged position, hoping his movement would quell Yuuri’s half-awake worries.But instead of snuffling and rolling back over, Yuuri frowned. He pushed himself out of the tangled covers. "Now I know something's wrong," he muttered.(In which Victor suffers from a moment of doubt and Yuuri is there to reassure him.)(Victuuri Week 2017 Day 3: Dreams. Prompt: Reassurance/Doubt.)





	

_“He’ll never be able to make it back into competitive skating.”_

_“He’d be way better off as only a coach! Now he’s going to be a horrible coach_ and _skater.”_

_“Why would he bother? Yuri Plisetsky is Russia’s ace now. They don’t need an old relic competing.”_

_“I heard he did it because Yuuri Katsuki asked him to come back. Too bad he’ll be disappointed.”_

Victor shuddered bodily at the words. He couldn’t find the source of the voices, couldn’t bring himself to argue, because they’re _right_ , they’re right about him, he’s going to go back but he’s not going to be able to do _anything_ and he won’t be doing enough for Yuuri at _all_ and he doesn’t want to disappoint anyone, least of all _Yuuri_ , and—

Victor’s eyes snapped open. He was still shivering, even outside of the clutches of the nightmare. Quickly, he glanced to his side. Yuuri, a deep sleeper as always, was still snoring softly. Victor grimaced. _I shouldn’t wake him. He needs his rest. I’ll be fine._ Carefully, Victor slid out of bed, though his movements remained uncoordinated and jerky. He stumbled a few steps more and fell into a sitting position by the window.

Deep breaths whispered through the otherwise-quiet room. Victor’s head was resting on his knees, his arms holding—or, perhaps, restraining—his legs. His mind was racing faster than it had in years. When was the last time pressure had gotten to him like this? Juniors? Maybe right before his first Junior Grand Prix Final, but even that seemed tame compared to this.

_Nothing even happened,_ Victor thought pathetically. _Why am I so affected_ now _?_

His mind was too jumbled to begin searching for an answer, and Victor wasn’t sure he wanted an answer anyway. It would just be a disappointment, to him and to others. He trembled at the thought, his vision suddenly wobbling. Victor rubbed his eyes furiously, a denial. This wasn’t what was going to happen. What if Yuuri woke up and found him like this? Like some sort of pitiful child on the floor, crying because he feared the monsters living in his own imagination.

_Is it imaginary, though?_ he wondered. Victor stared out the window, squinting against the moonlight. _People_ do _think that. It’s impossible not to see the news, no matter how hard I try. Everyone is doubting me, and they’re probably right._ He sniffled, frowning and burying his face back into his knees. _But no matter what I do now I’ll disappoint people. I’ll disappoint Yuuri…_ He bit his lip against the next wave of tears fighting to make themselves known. _I don’t want that. I want Yuuri to be as proud of me as I am of him. What would he think if…?_

“Victor?”

He felt his blood go icy with shame. This was the _opposite_ of what Victor wanted. _Why didn’t I just go to another room? Maybe I can still leave. It’s dark, he’s still tired, maybe he won’t see—_

“Victor, are you on the floor?”

Victor tried not to wince. So much for that plan. He didn’t turn to face Yuuri, fearing what he might look like. “I’m fine, Yuuri. You can sleep,” he suggested softly. The quietness of his voice was meant to soothe Yuuri back into rest, but Victor wasn’t sure he could have raised his voice without it wavering.

“Wait, you _are_ on the floor,” Yuuri said, his voice adorably tired and accusing. The covers rustled. Victor turned to look, an automatic response to Yuuri moving in his sleep.

 Yuuri was sitting up in bed, rubbing sleep from his eyes with an adorable look of confusion on his face. His eyebrows were scrunched up, his eyes glittering in the moonlight. Victor suspected that Yuuri was squinting, partly due to the dark and partly due to Yuuri’s abysmal vision. With that in mind, Yuuri probably wouldn’t be able to make out the details of anything, so…

Victor pasted on his practiced, media-pleasing smile. "It's nothing, Yuuri. Go back to sleep," he urged. Victor shifted into a cross-legged position, hoping his movement would quell Yuuri’s half-awake worries.

But instead of snuffling and rolling back over, Yuuri frowned. He pushed himself out of the tangled covers. "Now I know something's wrong," he muttered. In a motion much too fluid for someone who had been awake for less than two minutes, Yuuri grabbed his glasses off the side table and swung his feet onto the floor.

“Yuuri, really,” Victor said. _No no nononono, I don’t want you to know how weak I am! I don’t want you to be disappointed!_

Yuuri pushed himself off the bed and sat down right next to Victor. Victor felt his heart in his throat, trying desperately to choke him of falsely placating words and air. It was too late, Yuuri was _right there_ , he was going to know that his childhood idol-turned-lover was the weakest human being on the planet—

Victor turned back toward the window, hot tears flooding his eyes again. He took a long breath in, trying to wipe away any emotions in the process.

The air was punched back out of him in a shocked gasp when Yuuri put his hand on Victor’s shoulder.

Immediately, Yuuri let go. “Oh! Sorry, I didn’t mean to surprise you. Victor, you were spacing out. Are you really okay?” He sounded dubious. Victor must be an even worse actor than he thought. _Or maybe Yuuri just knows me too well._ Tears leaked out. _It doesn’t matter. He’ll know. He probably already knows. I just want to get it over with, I don’t want to prolong seeing him disappointed…_

“I’m fine,” Victor said anyway. The words he said wouldn’t have mattered anyway; the quiver to his voice was a dead giveaway now. Tears were falling in earnest. Yuuri had heard him cry once before, but this time it was far more obvious. He would know.

“Are you… crying?” Yuuri asked. He sounded taken aback. _Of course he does, he wouldn’t expect me to be crying on the ground. He expects better of me, and he should._

Victor had no opportunity to confirm or deny Yuuri’s suspicions; Yuuri was already set on finding out for himself. He shuffled in front of Victor’s gaze, his eyes determined and flashing with worry. Victor felt ill.

“Victor,” he breathed, his face falling. “What’s wrong?”

“I…” Victor shuddered, his words breaking apart. What could he say? Nothing was wrong, this was all ridiculous, he didn’t want Yuuri to think less of him—

“No, no, Victor, it’s okay! I could never think less of you! Please just talk to me,” Yuuri begged.

Oh no. Victor had said that out loud?! He put his head in his heads, his shoulders shaking.

But he felt arms coming around him, warm arms, familiar arms. He felt a kiss pressed to the top of his head, felt more than heard Yuuri murmuring to him, and finally Victor felt something snap. He crumpled, his arms falling open and his sobs wrenching from his lungs. Yuuri scooted forward immediately, held Victor close to him, stammered attempts at comfort.

When Victor’s tears ran dry, he was still hiccupping. He felt like a wrung-out towel, damp and exhausted. Yuuri’s grip loosened slightly, and Victor wasn’t sure when his arms had reached around Yuuri’s back, but he loosened his grip, too. Victor could feel his face running hot from a combination of past tears and embarrassment.

“I’m sorry,” Victor murmured, averting his gaze.

“Don’t be,” Yuuri said. He placed a soft hand on Victor’s cheek, and Victor couldn’t help but lean into the comforting and comparably cool touch. “Will you tell me what happened?”

Victor shrugged hurriedly. “Yuuri, it’s not important-”

“It is to me,” Yuuri interrupted softly. “You’ve always been here for me, Victor.” He grimaced. “I may not be the best at comforting people, but… I want to try to help you through this. We’re here together, so there’s no reason I can’t help you shoulder the weight. Okay?”

With that tiny, hopeful smile on Yuuri’s face, Victor felt any last shards of resolve shatter. He told Yuuri everything, more than he probably should have, and got weepy again in the middle. He babbled out his worries of disappointing everyone, his frustration that no one understood how much his time with Yuuri had revitalized him, his anger that people expected so little of him, the secret fear that those people were right to have low expectations. But Yuuri’s hands remained firmly and supportively in Victor’s, so Victor spat out every little doubt he had been feeling, flowing like a faucet down an open drain.

In the quiet that followed Victor’s words, he fidgeted. _Maybe that was too much,_ he fretted. “Sorry, I shouldn’t have unloaded that on you,” he said quickly.

But Yuuri’s grip strengthened, then suddenly vanished. Victor looked up in surprise and was met with Yuuri flinging his arms around him and burying his face in Victor’s shoulder. “Yuuri…?”

“You don’t need to apologize,” Yuuri mumbled. “I’m glad you told me. _Thank you_ for telling me.” He sat up, his own eyes watering. Victor opened his mouth in an exclamation of surprise and guilt, but was cut off by Yuuri’s smile. It was inexplicable, but beautiful as ever. Perhaps even more beautiful, unexpected as it was.

“I want you to know that I’m sorry you’ve been worrying silently. I want you to know that you can tell me things and I will never think less of you,” Yuuri said. “I’m no good at sharing sometimes either, but we can both try a little harder for each other. How does that sound?”

Victor was staring up at Yuuri in wonderment. “Yeah,” he breathed. The script felt flipped, but Victor found that he didn’t mind at all. He almost wished he _had_ said something sooner. Why had he thought Yuuri would be disappointed in him? There was no one in the world he was closer to than Yuuri; kind, beautiful, _amazing_ Yuuri.

“It takes a lot to admit that you’re doubting yourself,” Yuuri said tenderly. “I know how it feels. So you don’t have to worry about me judging you. I love you, remember? You never have to worry about that.”

Tears sprung to Victor’s eyes again. “I love you, too,” he choked.

Yuuri smiled lopsidedly. He reached out and wiped the tears sliding down Victor’s face. “I also want you to know… that all of those people telling you you’re going to do badly? They don’t matter. I have complete faith in you and I know you’re going to prove them all wrong. Besides…” He stuttered to a stop, suddenly blushing. “I can’t think of a better season than one that has you there with me as a coach _and_ a fellow skater.”

For the first time since he’d woken from his nightmare, Victor smiled genuinely, widely, brightly. “Yuuri,” he whispered. His voice still wobbled and now the tears in his eyes wanted to spring forth from happiness, from relief, but Yuuri didn’t seem to mind at all. Yuuri met him halfway in an embrace of pure, accepting comfort.

Yuuri had told Victor once about a sort of place that you could never reach unless you had a dream too large to bear alone. Victor had smiled at him then, enchanted by Yuuri’s positivity and his blindingly bright spirit. But now, Victor truly felt what he meant. Right here in Yuuri’s arms, they were pursuing their dream together. This was a place where, even when Victor doubted himself, he knew that Yuuri would be there to remind him that they could both achieve their dreams.

And for the first time since Victor first read those discouraging headlines so many weeks ago, he was sure that they could reach that place. They _would_ reach that place, and they would reach it together, hand in hand and smiling.

Exactly where they belonged.

**Author's Note:**

> I can't believe I wrote something somewhat angsty... :o  
> As always, feel free to come talk/yell about ice skating romances with me on tumblr!: scarfyuuri
> 
> Thank you for reading!


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